Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Under the Volcano & The Voyage That Never Ends by Malcolm Lowry

1965 Hardcover edition published by J.B. Lippincott

While Malcolm Lowry isn't one of my favorite writers, he was a pretty fascinating guy. Probably most well known for his vicious alcoholism, and Under the Volcano, which addresses it, Lowry didn't successfully publish very much in his lifetime although trying to for many, many years. Lowry spent around a decade and a half writing and trying to get Under the Volcano published, which is now considered one of the better books in the English language. I don't know if I'd go as far as that in my own estimation, but it is worth reading if you've never tackled it before. The above edition from the mid-1960's features great jacket design by David Lunn. Below is an out of print NYRB edition of The Voyage That Never Ends, a collection of Lowry's unpublished shorter works that give some interesting insight into the man's creative process.